>>5269815One after another, you sneak right up to the sleeping dragon and pluck a gold coin from his pile.
However, on the last ship you notice something strange before getting into range.
Just before you would have arrived, you notice a sort of glitter around the final ship. Zooming in with the optical telescope, you see... well, it's hard to tell, but they looks like orbs of some sort.
"Hold it, SHODAN. Something's not right. They may have detected us."
You stop the ship and hide behind a piece of debris for a while, until one of the orbs drifts a bit closer and you get a decent view of it through the telescope.
"That's... definitely a drone. Shit."
<span class="mu-i">"One optical sensor, three more thermal sensors. They appear to be armed as well."</span>
"Well, i guess they were bound to notice eventually. The same piece of scrap just happens to glue itself to their thrusters one after another, somebody's gotta mention it."
<span class="mu-i">"Nine out of ten isn't bad. All the active ships have been tagged already."</span>
"...Nah, fuck that. I got ten, i'm using ten."
<span class="mu-i">"You have a plan?"</span>
"Always."
Rushing over to the old cargo bay, you quickly unbox your armor and step into it. The AC unit kicks on immediately, which is quite literally a breath of fresh air.
You feel a rush as the oxygen floods into your suit at 20%, around the same as that on earth. Immediately, you feel yourself thinking more clearly and all of your senses are sharpened.
<span class="mu-i">"David, what are you doing?"</span> SHODAN asks, sounding worried.
"I'm giving them their bomb."
You strap on an RCS pack, which barely fits around your bulky suit, and grab the drone with one hand as you make your way to the airlock.
<span class="mu-i">"David! That's way too dangerous! There's dozens of drones out there, they'll spot you for sure!"</span>
Activating the airlock cycle, you vent the gas and gently step out into the superheated nebula. You feel a tingling across your skin as the suit becomes electrically charged, and your radio begins to cut out.
Thankfully though, most of your suit's systems are largely analog in nature, and won't malfunction due to a little bit of static. You're really thankful you insisted on fiber-optics for your visor instead of a camera.
"Don't worry SHODAN, i've got this. Don't forget, these drones have their own engines."
<span class="mu-i">"Yo-'re a- -d-iot. Cy-- -as rig-t a-b--t you."</span>
"Sorry miss, i can't hear you over the sound of dead hitmen."
Coasting from debris to debris to conserve your monopropellant, you do your best to avoid the drones and their line of sight entirely. Unfortunately, one manages to get the drop on you.
You don't even notice at first, until you see a flash of light and some sparks floating past. The drone has fixed itself on you and is firing small pulsed laser beams from the turret mounted to it's dick.
